Henri I. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Henri I., a non-Jew, who was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1926. He recounts his father's death when he was four; his mother's remarriage; being raised by his grandparents in Oostakker until he was thirteen, then living with his mother and stepfather in Brussels; fleeing with them to Dunkerque as Germany invaded; returning to Brussels; distributing leaflets for the Resistance; briefly hiding a downed American pilot in their home in spring 1944; arrest with his parents on May 2, 1944; confessing, hoping it would be easier for his parents; imprisonment in St. Gilles; deportation with his stepfather to Schandelah in September; slave labor; helping his stepfather; Soviet prisoners stealing from them; a Hungarian prisoner doctor saving his life; his stepfather's transfer (he never saw him again); transfer in April to WoĚbbelin; witnessing cannibalism; liberation by United States troops; repatriation to Brussels via Holland, Louvain, then Aarschot; assistance from the Red Cross; finding no surviving relatives; returning to his grandparents in Oostakker; a two-month hospitalization; and his mother's return. Mr. I. discusses relations between nationalities in the camps. He shows photographs.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony is open with permission.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright has been transferred to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Use of this testimony requires permission of the Fortunoff Video Archive.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- I., Henri, -- 1926-
Corporate Bodies
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
- WoĚbbelin (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Postwar experiences.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Belgium.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Belgian.
- Forced labor.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.
- Concentration camp inmates.
- Fathers and sons.
- Cannibalism.
- Concentration camps -- Sociological aspects.
- Postwar effects.
- Mutual aid.
Places
- Belgium.
- Ghent (Belgium)
- Oostakker (Belgium)
- Brussels (Belgium)
- Dunkerque (France)
- Netherlands.
- Louvain (Belgium)
- Aarschot (Belgium)
- Schandelah (Germany : Concentration camp)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat